Reincarnated As A Plant Life

Chapter 271: Minecrawlers [XI]

According to the guide, the cavern up ahead was the biggest in this section of the mine -of which there were five sections in total. It was around two times bigger than the largest cave they had passed by and had dozens of sharp protrusions hanging from the ceiling.

It was a sort of hub, where minerals and other materials were deposited and guarded by the strongest venari the mines had to offer, which according to their guide, were capable of making the earth rattle with but a stomp of their hooves -something Lucius doubted heavily.

Within the cavern there were two platforms on either side which were a considerable distance off the ground. They each carried one cage, both of them crafted from Miran - the rare material the castor had spoken of. Apparently it was the only material strong enough to hold the Morrentors - as they were capable of morphing every kind of rock material.

This part in particular intrigued Lucius the most. If what the guide was saying was true, that meant the Morrentors had completely mastered one of the various forms of True Elmando.

If perhaps he could take it back with him, he may be able to study it, and use it to gain True Elmando for himself. And with one of his tails already being capable of it, it may not be all that complicated.

Though sadly, as the guide continued explaining, Lucius's dreams were shattered.

Apparently, the only reason the Morrentors co-operated with the venari was because of the use of magic. And from the sound of it, this was likely some form of mind magic... which was only going to make their fight against the Morrentor guards all the more challenging.

"So you're sure they don't use weapons," Lucius asked after the guide had finished its explanation. To which the guide nodded its head slowly.

"Whenever there are escape attempts, they make use of magic only. And I've never seen any of them carrying any sort of spear," the guide responded.

~Perhaps they just never felt the need to use weapons in front of them. After all, the purple-tunic we encountered earlier had a knife on it. And there's no telling whether they're capable of using it in conjunction with their magic,~ Lucius thought to himself, looking down the tunnel towards the cavern with a wary expression.

There was an earth wall that blocked access to the cavern, which apparently could only be opened by a Morrentor. The good news was the sounds they were making probably weren't carrying past the earth wall. The bad news was that they had no sure way of getting through it.

Lucius proposed using all the furtong they had collected to try and morph the wall. However there was no guarantee that even that many furtong would be able to do anything.

"Ghost, have you fully recovered yet?" Lucius asked, now facing her.

"I've rested enough, I can fight," she responded immediately.

~She still looks a little drained... might slow us down,~ he thought to himself, before asking her to use her invisibility technique.

Her camouflage flickered frantically, like a faulty light bulb. And even though she could try fighting with just this much, Lucius wasn't going to risk it.

"Stay behind and protect the furtong once we've breached. Continue resting up, we might need your technique on our way out," he responded after some thought.

Ghost drooped her head in disappointment, before reluctantly agreeing to Lucius's order.

"Ursa," Lucius called out, gesturing towards the bear-man leader.

"Am I being allowed to take part in the next battle?" Ursa asked with an excited smile. However, this did nothing to make his scared face look more approachable.

"I hope you have some sort of secret power you've been hiding because with the energy output I'm sensing from you right now, I don't think you'll be of much use in there," Lucius said frankly.

Sure Ursa was around the same energy level as Hannibal, but this simply wasn't going to be enough in there. Regardless of what sort of trick Lucius was going to come up with, anyone below a prime condition Ghost would probably die.

"Though age weakens me, I am still a guardian to my people. My mystic mantle has not left me," Ursa replied.

~I forgot about that... all guardians have access to the mystic mantle, huh,~ Lucius thought to himself. Now recalling how he had left the Zeldrave den before Avankor could teach him how to properly use the technique.

~Good, perhaps he can teach me,~ he decided, nodding at Ursa.

"Go round up your people and tell them about our plan to break through the earth wall," he said to the guide, who promptly left to carry out his task.

~Though this still leaves the issue of actually fighting them. Even with Ursa's mystic mantle, our chances aren't good... and I don't want to use Belladona or the kumulipo in front of everyone,~ he thought to himself.

Kumulipo clearly had a deteriorating effect on his psyche, and now was not the time for him to be having a mental episode. And Belladona had a poisonous effect to it, meaning that it would effect Pagan and Ursa if used during the battle.

~My mystic- or emperor's mantle, whatever it's called is out of the question as well. Sure I might be able to win with it, but at what cost,~ he pondered. After all, he had no control over his body when that primal energy consumed him.

As he was thinking, his eyes naturally shifted to stare at the glowing crystals above him. Their beauty was enthralling, and perhaps if they weren't about to put their lives on the line, he would've taken more time to admire them. Though even now as he stared at them in thought, his eyes slowly grew tired due to the immense light.

~Ahh... that'll work,~ he thought to himself with a smile, an idea having crossed his mind.

"Listen!" Lucius shouted towards the crowd of furtong -who seemed to be whispering complaints at being put to work right after being freed.

"Extract all the light runes from the walls, and bring them here," he continued, pointing to his feet.

*[The Furtong]

Though an array of beautiful light shone on the creature from the glowing crystal ceiling above, it still managed to look like a demon from the old stories. The ones that stalked the earth, dragging unsuspecting creatures to the deep depths and devouring them whole.

Even the creature's horns were similar to those mythical beasts, twisted and gnarled.... blacker than black. It was laughable that this abomination claimed to be Havon. However, no one dared to openly question this.

"Why aren't you moving?" the creature growled.

Just then, some of the furtong could've sworn they saw its left eye flicker... that eye which was completely white, as if the creature had been in a fight with the Queen of the Forest Council herself.

*[Lucius]